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SpaceXFounded by Elon Musk in 2002, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is a California-based company that pioneered the development of reusable rockets. He initially attempted to purchase ballistic missiles in Europe and Russia, hoping to launch a rocket carrying a plant or animal to Mars to spark global interest in colonizing the planet, but found them too expensive.
By implementing a vertically integrated supply chain—where materials are manufactured in-house—and urging his team to test and simplify every manufacturing rule and process, a SpaceX orbital rocket is today 97% cheaper than those used in the 1960s by Russia. The reusability of the company's two-stage Falcon 9 rocket has revolutionized spaceflight economics, and its Starship—a spacecraft designed for travel to Mars—will be launched atop its partially reusable Falcon Heavy, which is engineered for super-heavy payloads.
Using its low-cost launch system, SpaceX has deployed over 5,000 communications satellites into low-Earth orbit to form Starlink, the world's first global broadband internet service.Explore SpaceX
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SpaceX's Crew Dragon was the first crewed spacecraft piloted by touchscreenIn May 2020, NASA astronauts flying SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station used touchscreen controls instead of traditional switches and dials, a significant shift for astronauts and how they pilot and interact with spacecraft. (Some users may experience a paywall.) The VergeIn 2018, SpaceX launched a Tesla Roadster into heliocentric orbit for publicityAs of February 2023, the vehicle and its mannequin driver—dubbed "Starman"—have completed three and a quarter revolutions around the sun. One paper estimated that the car has a 22% chance of crashing into Earth within the next 15 million years. CNNCyan Banister, once homeless, was an angel investor in Uber, SpaceX, and DeepMindCyan Banister has invested in more than 100 companies, building a reputation in the angel-investing world for her unorthodox approach. The Tim Ferriss ShowAs of 2022, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are the primary space tourism companiesBlue Origin offers 11-minute suborbital flights for $28M, while Virgin Galactic provides a 90-minute suborbital flight for $450,000. SpaceX offers orbital flights for $55M, including trips to the International Space Station, and plans to offer civilians trips to the moon by 2030. AFAR MediaSpaceX successfully caught a rocket booster in mid-airAs part of the fifth test flight of its Starship system, the Super Heavy booster used high-speed navigation systems, grid fins, and Raptor engines to steer itself onto the mechanical arms of a tower called Mechazilla. 1440Elon Musk's will to launch: the early days of SpaceXRadically reducing the cost of rockets and innovating totally new space vehicles originated in the singular force of Elon Musk's vision. In this podcast, Founders creator David Senra shares what he learned reading a book about SpaceX's beginnings, highlighting Musk's audacious refusal to follow industry conventions and promotion of a culture of action and speed. Learn more insights from the founder here. Founders PodcastMetal wreckage found in a Canadian farm turned out to be SpaceX spacecraft debrisThe pieces of the wreck included a 36-kilogram aluminum spear more than 2 meters long, and its origins were confirmed by satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. No government acknowledged or took accountability for the space trash, which SpaceX later quietly retrieved. Scientific AmericanA SpaceX spacecraft's battery debris survived reentry and crashed into a Florida homeAlthough NASA expected the debris to disintegrate after it was jettisoned from the International Space Station in 2024, the flight support component survived reentry. No injuries were reported from the incident. CNNElon Musk founded SpaceX after being unable to purchase affordable rockets abroadThe company simplified manufacturing and revolutionized space travel by focusing on in-house production and reusability. Their Falcon 9 rocket's ability to land vertically and be partially reused led to 91 successful launches in 2023. 1440Elon Musk's $100M investment in SpaceX was lost to three failed rocket launchesThe attempts with Falcon 1 endangered the company's future but provided valuable information from which to iterate and follow up with the successful first privately funded orbital launch in history and multiple ISS resupply missions. FlatlifeNASA and SpaceX combine public support and funding with private enterpriseRather than competitors, SpaceX and NASA are mutually beneficial collaborators. Without NASA contracts, SpaceX may have run out of funding, and without the low-cost tech of SpaceX, NASA may have been left without a US-based launch system. The Planetary SocietySpaceX built to achieve Elon Musk's vision of making humans an interplanetary speciesLearning quickly from early Falcon rocket failures and clashes with vendors and safety regulators, the company has focused on reusability as a first step to reaching Mars and is backed by NASA funding to do so. EsquireOvercoming industry skeptics, SpaceX provides low-cost, high-publicity space flightsFrom recovering and reusing rocket components to launching a mannequin and Tesla into orbit to the tune of David Bowie's "Starman," Elon Musk drove public interest and government contracts to his company as he transformed space launches into spectacles. Space.comSee how SpaceX has impacted costs throughout space flight historyThe cost of one SpaceX launch today is estimated to cost 97% less than the price of a Russian Soyuz rocket in the 1960s, a price reduction providing access to many smaller manufacturers and transforming the industry. Visual CapitalistStarbase is SpaceX's testing ground for their most powerful rocket, StarshipLocated near the southernmost part of Texas, the complex includes rocket bays, test pads, the "Rocket Garden" where flown, cancelled, or retired spacecraft are kept. The outdoor seating area of the site's private restaurant is covered in Mk1 Starship prototype flaps. Everyday AstronautA quick guide to everything SpaceXSpaceX has single-handedly reignited commercial space exploration, with its reusable rockets, broadband satellite constellation, and plans to populate Mars. The company has gone from a mere idea in 2002 to the world's most well-known private space company. Learn the basics about this pivotal company with this quick guide from CNET. CNETA primer on SpaceX's primary rockets and spacecraftSpaceX has developed several lines of rockets, from its workhorse Falcon 9 to the visionary Super Heavy rocket of the company's Starship designed for massive payloads. Each iteration costs millions of dollars and came with scientific and economic challenges and several are no longer in development. Learn more about the company's roster of rockets and craft here. Interesting EngineeringSpaceX has launched thousands of its Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbitEvery launched batch of satellites contains roughly 60 of the desk-sized gadgets. The batch is released at random into an initial orbit, and it takes time for them to naturally spread out enough before operators begin unfolding their antennae. Scott ManleyView the docket of future SpaceX launchesSpaceX has established an efficient schedule for launches of ISS crew shuttles and Starlink satellites, with blastoffs occurring just under once every four days in 2023—a pace that has since accelerated as the company has won more contracts. RocketLaunch.LiveThe 3D-printed rocket maker competing with SpaceXProducing rockets cheaply and at scale may require atypical manufacturing processes like those developed by Relativity Space, a 3D-printer of rockets. Relativity hopes to not just compete with, but beat, SpaceX in the race to get the first... YouTubeWatch a supercut of the various iterations of SpaceX's Starship rocketThe first version, called Starhopper, was named with the vision of developing rocket stages that could safely land after use, enabling reusability to cut costs. The endeavor was an enormous engineering challenge that required years of testing. CNETA lunar 'satellite catapult' revives a 50-year-old idea for launching rocketsElon Musk has proposed building a mass driver on the moon to fling satellites into space, exploiting low gravity to cut fuel and costs. The concept dates to 1970s space-settlement studies, highlighting how older industry ideas are resurfacing amid today's AI and space-infrastructure race. SpaceIn 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floorWhile searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand. ABC NewsThe Challenger disaster exposed flawed priorities in NASA's leadershipReported issues with the shuttle's O-rings were deemed "acceptable risks" to proceed with the launch and ensure President Reagan could mention the success of Challenger in his State of the Union address. Postponing the launch would have also limited the publicity of educator Christa McAuliffe's live lesson from space. The New York TimesNASA plans to bring down the ISS at a location farthest from landPoint Nemo is located in the South Pacific Ocean at coordinates 48°52.6'S 123°23.6'W, approximately 2,688 kilometers (1,670 miles) from Ducie Island, Motu Nui, and Maher Island. The location has served as an underwater graveyard for hundreds of satellites and is expected to be harbor the International Space Station in 2030. Space.comHow to visualize the enormous wealth of Elon MuskThe disruptive innovator and founder of SpaceX and Tesla is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, an unimaginable sum. This simple interactive visual uses pixels (representing $1,000 each) on a scrolling screen to demonstrate the billionaire's wealth compared to other known financial values, like the cost of building a Boeing 777 or the net worth of Tiger Woods. Engaging DataOrbital space flight requires reaching 23 times the speed of soundAfter accelerating up to at least 17,500 miles per hour, space tourists can travel in elliptical orbits hundreds of miles above Earth for days or weeks at a time. Suborbital flights instead max out at about 2,200 miles per hour and only travel 50 to 70 miles above Earth's surface for a few minutes. ForbesSpace tourism rockets emit up to 100 times more CO₂ per passenger than airplanesRocket launches release significant amounts of water vapor, nitrous oxide, and rocket propellants, which generate greenhouse gases and air pollutants. High-altitude emissions can persist for years, affecting the ozone layer. ideas.ted.comRising satellite numbers pose increased risks of planes being hit by falling debrisProjections of more than 100,000 satellites in space by the 2030s—eight times the number in 2025—highlight a growing threat to aviation. Experts suggest the odds could reach seven in 10,000 annually by 2035, alongside higher risks to people on the ground. MIT Technology ReviewExplore a timeline of every mission to Mars through 2020The US has conducted the most missions (23) and has the highest success rate (74%), followed by Russia (18 missions at 5%). The first successful orbiter was Mariner 4, while Viking 1 was the first successful lander. Visual CapitalistWhen retired, the International Space Station will undergo a controlled de-orbitWith plans to transition low-Earth orbit operations to private entities, the ISS is expected to be retired by 2030, using a SpaceX de-orbit vehicle. Although reentry will burn up most hardware, NASA intends for any surviving debris to fall into an uninhabited ocean area. The ConversationWatch how dozens of everyday human tasks are performed in spaceThis playlist features clips of astronauts aboard the International Space Station explaining how they cook, eat, sleep, and conduct research in microgravity. Other activities to pass the time, including watering plants and playing soccer, are also shown. VideoFromSpaceSpace probes propelled by lasers may one day visit distant planetary systemsLaunched in 2016, Breakthrough Starshot is a project to send gram-sized spacecraft to the nearest stars and their planets at 10% to 20% the speed of light after being accelerated by ground-based laser systems. The project requires orders of magnitude advancements to current technology. The EconomistSee Bloomberg's continuously updated Billionaire IndexThis ranking, updated daily, shows a running tally of the world's 500 richest people. Tesla and SpaceX CEO has largely been atop the list, with a net worth of around $450B as of October 2025. Values fluctuate significantly as much of the wealth is tied to equity in companies. Bloomberg.comTwo main types of inflight WiFi connections are air-to-ground and satellite-basedATG systems rely on aircraft antennae to catch signals from cellphone towers, while the latter uses a network of satellites transmitting data from space. As of 2022, airlines like Delta and United hosted over 1.5 million monthly WiFi sessions. CNNThe world's 50 most valuable private companiesWhile public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China. Visual CapitalistThe Polaris Dawn was a privately crewed spaceflightSpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule Resilience spent five days in low Earth orbit as part of the first of three planned missions under the name Polaris Dawn. The historic journey took participants farther away from our planet than anyone has been since the Apollo missions. SpaceXThe Polaris Dawn program led to the first commercial spacewalkAs part of the Polaris Program, this first mission included a crew comprised of astronauts and SpaceX engineers who conducted scientific experiments and cultural outreach, such as raising funds for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Space.comSpace tourism by the numbersPrivate space tourism agency Space Adventures held a monopoly on space tourism for the industry’s first decade, but everything changed when four more major players entered the stage in the early 2020s. Who are the key players in the space tourism industry, and how many space tourists have there been since the first in 2001? Explore space tourism by the numbers in this article by Space Insider. Space InsiderSpace tourism opportunities have been explored since the end of the Apollo eraIn the 1970s, Rockwell International, a NASA contractor, and others investigated manufacturing passenger modules that could fit into the Space Shuttle's payload bay. NASA also opened spaceflights to non-government professionals, but many such programs were ended after the Challenger Disaster, which killed the first Teacher in Space participant. AFAR MediaThe Space Race of the 21st century is focused on a permanent lunar outpostAfter decades of dormancy, NASA and SpaceX hope the Artemis program will provide opportunities for lunar resource extraction. Countries like India, China, and the UAE have also shown interest in developing future lunar economies. Brookings A 'unicorn' is a private company with a $1B-plus valuationJust like a horse with a spiraling horn on its head, private companies with a more than $1B valuation are rare creatures. But unlike the mythical creature, this type of “unicorn” is occasionally spotted in the wild. Unicorn companies include SpaceX, OpenAI, Skims, and more. CB InsightsThe inhabitability of the Martian environment presents significant colonization risksTerraforming the thin atmosphere, toxic dust, extreme cold, and lack of magnetic field is infeasible, given limitations to the size of what can be sent to Mars. NASA and SpaceX are instead exploring creating underground shelters. The Space RaceFalcon 9's first stage is able to land within a 30-foot diameter target consistentlySpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket releases its reusable first stage hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface as it travels thousands of mile per hour. The stage often then lands on an autonomous ocean drone in the middle of the sea. Art of EngineeringThe reusability of Falcon 9's first stage rocket has slashed launch costsUnlike older rockets left to sink in the ocean, the first stage was designed to steer itself back for a controlled landing on a sea-based barge. Refurbishment of these components are half the cost of building new. CosmosStarship is the space travel ship that rides atop the world's largest rocketSpaceX hopes to use the vehicle for both interplanetary travel as well as for shorter flights around the Earth. At 30 feet wide, it allows for more storage and headspace for inhabitants than previous NASA spacecraft. The Space RaceSpace law, explainedIs space destined to be the next Wild West? Since the 1960s, United Nations members have worked together to create a framework of treaties, agreements and accords that set the rules for space exploration. Because space law is made up of several different agreements, it can be difficult to understand exactly how it works. In this video, a legal scholar outlines the evolution of space law from the space race era to current commercial space flight missions. YouTubeWatch a documentary on what the first 10,000 days of colonizing the moon look likeAlongside the construction of the first lunar base with help from SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System, transported astronauts would establish a sustainable human presence through the construction of lunar dust shields, light-bending towers, and 3D-printed habitats. Venture CityIncreasing space tourism may require changing the definition of 'astronaut'Though "astronaut" has been used to describe any crew member in space, civilian explorers who lack formal training have instead been dubbed "space travelers" by some. The term "astronaut" may one day fall out of use or be modified by ongoing media and social perceptions as the space tourism industry continues to evolve. TIMEGuide a ship to dock at the International Space StationDozens of ships dock at the ISS yearly, rotating astronaut crews and delivering supplies. This simulation lets you try docking a SpaceX Dragon 2 using the same interface and controls as NASA astronauts. SpaceX
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